


Like No One’s Watching

by monobuu



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Slice of Life, Tony POV, bucky to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22913413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monobuu/pseuds/monobuu
Summary: It’s her first performance ever, but with one parent missing and the other two shrouded in the darkness of the audience, young Kobik is a little overwhelmed.Tony Stark BingoCard # 3087Square: T5 - Friday
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 101





	Like No One’s Watching

It was Friday.  
  
It was the big night, the one for which they had been practicing for two months, the one Natasha had painstakingly sewed 15,000 sequins for, the one Tony had actually cancelled on Pepper to attend.   
  
The Dance Recital of the Aven Academy’s kindergarteners.   
  
There were dances being performed by all the different years and levels, of course, but the one Tony and Bucky were there to see was their daughter’s. Natasha would have been there as well if she hadn’t come down with the flu. She had actually managed to make herself worse for her extended fussing over Kobik’s hair and costume, until Bucky had very firmly sent her back to bed and Tony had taken over perfecting the girl’s pigtails. Happy sat in Natasha’s spot currently, camera at the ready and instructed to film every single moment of their daughter’s first recital so that Nat could gush over it later.   
  
Tony had been entirely willing to shell out a small fortune for a local TV station to broadcast the whole thing, but Bucky had managed to talk him down.   
  
Natasha was actually an instructor at the prestigious school, and with her out sick, her assistant was in charge of corralling all the girls and boys for their performances. According to Natasha, there was a high chance the entire thing would end in chaos, but luckily for Bucky and Tony, the younger dancers were almost always one of the first groups to perform and they wouldn’t technically need to stay much past when their daughter’s group left the stage.   
  
So far, the assistant had done a fine job in making sure the music started on cue, that the various dancers were in their proper places (mostly – they were four and five year olds, there was only so much you could do), and that all the children were guided offstage at the end. Kobik’s group was third, and as the second group shuffled off with the guidance of the stage helpers, Tony felt Bucky nudge him in the side excitedly.   
  
Tony grinned. He didn’t care overly much about ballet, unless it was to watch Natasha or their daughter, but Bucky had always been enthusiastic about the arts, helping Kobik with her choreography when Natasha was still at work and taking his turn running her to and from her practices. Natasha was both Kobik’s ballet teacher and her biological mother, and either Bucky or Tony was Kobik’s blood father, but they’d never actually taken the DNA test to determine which, and likely never would. As far as anyone in Kobik’s life was concerned, she had one mother and two fathers. And while their situation made it all but impossible to marry either of his partners, Tony had given them each a ring regardless.   
  
And all three were equally as enthusiastic about raising Kobik, even if their parenting styles differed from time to time.   
  
“Next, please welcome our kindergarten class, Group C, as they perform Fur Elise,” the announcer said sweetly, gesturing as Natasha’s assistant led out a group of girls.   
  
“Oh no,” Tony murmured, watching as the girl at the very front of the line, stark white pigtails shining in the stage lights, stumbled as she hunched over, barely able to hang on to the adult’s hand as she cried piteously. Kobik.   
  
Tony had been worried about this. With Natasha unable to come, their daughter had assured them she could do the dance all on her own, and they left the penthouse and bundled her into the car. But Tony had seen her glancing back, clearly hoping her mother would suddenly get better and be able to come with. It seemed once she’d left their side to go back stage, her brave face had faltered.   
  
“Oh, shit,” Bucky whispered at his side.   
  
Happy was filming, as per Natasha’s request, but he glanced at Tony nervously. “Boss?” he asked.   
  
Tony’s mind ran furiously over all their options and came up with precious few solutions. They couldn’t stop the performance – that wouldn’t be fair to the other girls and it would disrupt the entire evening’s schedule. It was too dark for Tony to call out and try to get Kobik to focus on them, their presence, and the fact that they were there to support her.   
  
“Bucky, what-” Tony turned to ask, only to find his partner gone. He squinted through the darkness and managed to spot Bucky’s figure hurrying away from the seats and toward the side door that would lead backstage. It was too late to call out for him to come back, but-   
  
“What on earth does he think he’s going to do?” Tony murmured to himself as the music of Fur Elise started. The other girls began their routine, but Kobik just stood there, crying her tiny heart out, not even trying to match her classmates’ movements.   
  
Tony’s heart broke for his littler girl and he was about to storm up there himself and just tug her off the stage and into his arms when a tall figure came out of the shadows of stage left and hurried into line with the other girls. It was Bucky, and Tony could see Kobik’s tears stumble to a shocked halt as she looked up and suddenly found her father smiling down at her.   
  
And then Bucky started dancing.   
  
It was a simple routine, designed for kindergarteners, with simple leg and arm movements, and while Tony wouldn’t have been able to do much other than bounce to the beat of the piano, Bucky had helped Kobik enough that he knew the routine. He went through the simple movements for a couple moments, then offered his hand to Kobik, and they began to dance together with the other girls. Most of the routine was done with the girls in a straight line, feet pointing and lifting one at a time in as much synchronicity as four year olds could manage. Their arms would move with in motions that matched their legs, though not all of them managed to make it work. Bucky and Kobik, still holding hands, did all of those movements one-armed.   
  
“Happy,” Tony whispered furiously, poking the man in his side even as he kept his eyes on the stage. Everyone around them had let out adorably happy ‘aaaws’ and sighs as Bucky had begun dancing, and Tony wasn’t entirely sure his driver could hear him over all the cooing. “Happy, are you getting this?”   
  
Happy flapped his hand at Tony, hushing him. “Shhhh!” he whispered.   
  
Tony would normally take this opportunity to heckle Happy about respecting his employer, but honestly, he couldn’t take his eyes away from Bucky and Kobik, two of the most important people in his life, dancing together on stage. His heart was honestly in danger of giving out all together from the amount of cute he was currently watching and he couldn’t wait to show Natasha when they got home.   
  
In the middle of the song, there was an ambitious bit of choreography where all the girls held hands and moved to make a circle, jumping and hopping to the music until they straightened out into a line once more. Bucky went with them, keeping time with the music and helping guide them through the choreography. He kept his own jumps very small, tiny hops to the music, and when they all straightened out, let go of Kobik’s hand slowly as they began the last part of the dance. Kobik had stopped crying altogether, grin wide on her face, and when Bucky freed her hand, she brought it up to begin the arm movements that went with that part of the song. She was radiant, face shining, dancing better than any of the other girls on stage now that she’d regained her confidence.   
  
At least, in Tony’s humble opinion. He was sure Natasha would agree with him.   
  
The song ended with a flourish and Bucky took the place of the assistant as he guided them off the stage to the left. Tony didn’t wait to see if Happy was behind him, just pushed politely past all the other parents in his row as he headed toward the exit Bucky had used earlier. He pushed out into the hallway and saw Bucky exiting the stage door with a bouncing Kobik on his heels. As soon as she saw Tony, she jumped in place and took off, running at him full tilt in her sequined, fluffy tutu.   
  
She jumped and Tony caught her, bringing her up into his arms for a bear hug as Bucky followed her at a more sedate pace.   
  
“Daddy!” she squealed. “Did you see, did you see?!”   
  
“I did,” Tony assured her. “You were great, sweetie, you did so well.”   
  
“Did you see Papa!?” Kobik asked, pulling away from where she’d squished her face into Tony’s chest to point at Bucky. “Papa danced wit me!”   
  
“He did,” Tony said, glancing at his partner with a grin. Bucky’s cheeks heated a bit, but he was smiling too, arm going around Tony’s back to snag one hand on his hip, the other coming up to rest on Kobik’s back. “He was almost as good as you,” Tony told Kobik, who was beginning to bounce in his arms.   
  
“We did the-” and Kobik didn’t know the words to the movements yet, so instead she just showed them, raising her arms up into a circle.   
  
“And the-” and here she kicked out one leg, toe pointed as best she could, then the other leg, almost catching Bucky in the stomach.   
  
“And then we did the circle and Papa was there!” Kobik continued, arm reaching out to pat Bucky on his cheek. “Papa is a good dancer.”   
  
“He is a very good dancer,” Tony agreed. “Maybe better than Mama.”   
  
Kobik let out a tiny little gasp, then put her two little hands against Tony’s grinning mouth. “No,” she said sternly, and Tony could see Bucky stifling his laughter even as he stared into Kobik’s very serious eyes. “Mama is best.”   
  
Tony gently tugged Kobik’s hands away from his mouth. “You’re right, how could I forget,” he told her, smiling softly. “Let’s go home and tell your Mama all about it, shall we?”   
  
He turned to head toward the exit that would take them out to the street as Kobik started talking about all the things she would tell Natasha when they got home, confident that Happy would be there with the car and the video camera in tow. Bucky came up on the side opposite of where Tony held Kobik and Tony reached up on tip toes to kiss his cheek as they walked.   
  
“You were amazing,” Tony whispered over Kobik’s chattering. Bucky grinned and gave Tony a wink. “Clearly she takes after you,” Tony added with a grin.   
  
“Cheeseburger!” Kobik said loudly. “Need cheesburgers!”   
  
“Ah, no,” Bucky said through laughter. “Clearly she takes after you, doll.”


End file.
